An Old Fashioned Southern Romance Novel (2 page)

If not for the circumstances surrounding their meeting, Annabella would surely have been offended. She was proud of her pale white skin and unapologetic for not being tanned.
Annabella, however, was true to her role. She kindly comforted the woman on Warren’s driveway while Warren called for medical assistance. The woman refused to answer Annabella’s questions inquiring about her condition. Marigold began feverishly pressing buttons on her cellular phone and Annabella had little doubt that she was contacting an attorney. Warren began to walk to the corner of the remote street so he could direct the medical personnel to his home. Annabella continued to try to comfort the lady, as she was genuinely concerned for her. Annabella was not concerned about legal ramifications. She was, however, furious at Warren. Had he not given her such a gaudy, superficial present for her birthday, this would never have happened. Annabella was positively beside herself. She began to pray over the girl, placing her sweaty palm on the young lady’s forehead.

“Dear sweet Jesus, please protect this young l
ady and bless her soul. Please Lord, heal her and make her whole again. Oh father God, take away the affliction that ails her and help her to walk again. Kind, loving, merciful God, please bring her comfort in this time of difficulty. In your son Jesus’s name, amen.”

Marigold glared at Annabella in disbelief. She wondered if Annabella had been injured in the accident as well, because
surely she could not be serious. But Annabella was serious and she did not play with The Lord. They could both hear the emergency vehicles rounding the curve to come to the house and Marigold was beyond relieved. Annabella helped the workers get Marigold safely onto the stretcher and Marigold signaled the workers to get her out of there as quickly as possible. Annabella waved to the ambulance as it drove away. For as much as she despised Warren and his revolving door of women, she actually felt like she made a connection with this one. She wasn’t sure what Warren had told the police, but she was sure it wasn’t the last she would hear of Marigold.

Chapter
Three

Hattie knew her little
orchid was positively mortified by the entire ordeal of having all-but mowed down Warren’s latest fling. In keeping with her true persona, Annabella was more concerned that Warren and Marigold thought she did it on purpose than the actual condition of the girl. She would simply die if Warren thought she was jealous of such an obviously-loose woman. The fact that Annabella spoke incessantly of the ordeal was proof-positive to Hattie that the woman she helped raise was in distress and dire need of a reprieve. Hattie knew she had to get Annabella’s mind off the situation and help her relax. If Annabella continued to worry, she would surely lose 10 pounds easily, and Hattie was certain the girl could not stand to lose another ounce. She was already rail-thin and subject to fainting spells. Hattie knew it was only a matter of time before she fell out and caused some serious damage. She came up with the idea to send her little Annabella away for a while. She was sure the girl would enjoy Martha’s Vineyard, but she did not want to send her alone. Hattie was not inclined to go with her, as she was preparing to send her own child off to college. She would be consumed the entire summer with her own projects. After much thought, she settled on inviting Caroline, Annabella’s arch-enemy and best friend. Caroline was like Annabella in almost every way, with one major exception. Caroline was what the old folks called “fast”. She was not married, but she was not chaste either. As Hattie would recall, “She had more men running through her daddy’s house than the Olympic trials.” While Annabella chastised her childhood friend for such behavior, she also enjoyed the attention it drew to Annabella’s own chastity in comparison. Annabella enjoyed being the “good girl” and Caroline spent the majority of her time trying to persuade Annabella to remove the proverbial chastity belt. When they were teenagers, Hattie attempted to keep Caroline’s narrow derrière away from Annabella out of fear that she was a negative influence. Hattie no longer had such concerns, for she knew Annabella was unfazed by Caroline’s tales of adventure and romance. Annabella was firm and resolute in what she wanted and she would not be dissuaded. Besides, now that Hattie’s own child was grown, she had little on which to focus her time and energy. If Annabella got married, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. Annabella’s father would have little use for the aging Black woman. Annabella’s mother was a might touched, as the old folks say, and she spent most of her years away from the family home. No one really talked about her condition, but it was a kind of dementia that kept Eudora from living a normal life. Hattie had been the surrogate mother for most of Annabella’s life, but everyone was clear that Hattie had her own life and family. Once Annabella was gone, Hattie would soon follow. Hattie was sure that her Annabella was purposefully not getting married just to keep her around. Hattie’s philosophy was that every girl needs a mother. She could not imagine leaving poor Annabella without a mother figure in her life. She carefully bided her time between the Devereaux family and her own. When her daughter was younger, Hattie often brought Dominique with her to work. But, as the child got older, she began to notice the dichotomy between her own humble existence and Annabella’s charmed life. Unable to explain the difference, Hattie began to let her husband and the grandmothers care for her daughter when she went to work for the Devereaux family. Hattie would come home to her child dog-tired but determined to give the girl a chance at a better life. Now, Hattie’s daughter was headed off to college on a full academic scholarship in Math and Science. Dominique planned to become an engineer when she graduates. It will take generations for her to amass the kind of wealth the Devereaux family has, but her only interest right now is taking care of her mother in her old age. It will be decades before Hattie is in need of such assistance and she will likely have squirreled away enough of her own money for that purpose. With Dominique off to college and Annabella with no prospects, Hattie’s renewed responsibility was to the frigid belle whose only source of warmth was found in her daddy’s cotton fortune.

Chapter
Four

Caroline pulled up into Annabella’s driveway in her slick new convertible. She pulled her sunglasses down to her poin
ted nose and gave Hattie a look as though she thought Hattie should help her with her bags. Hattie rolled her eyes and turned away.

“The dr
iver will help you with your things, Ms. Caroline,” she informed the young lady as she walked away.

“Ugh!” Caroline exclaimed. “She is simply useless,” she told Annabella as she entered the house.

“I shudder to think what kind of mistress you would have been prior to 1865, Caroline. But in case you did not get the telegram, President Lincoln has freed the slaves,” she joked with her entitled friend.

“You’re a fine one to talk, Annabella. Why, you’ve been keeping Hattie in bondage
longer than President Davis ever held a soul.”

“Well
, at least she is here on her own volition and not left to me in a will like your Millie.”

“No maid has ever worked for a White person on their own volition.
Money is their only motivation,” Caroline felt obligated to inform her naïve friend.

“Well, maybe if we paid them more
, they wouldn’t be so desperate,” Annabella assured her.

“Since when did you become a bleeding heart liberal?” Caroline wanted to know.

“Hattie is my friend and confidant, Caroline. She is nothing like you describe the others.”

“Hattie is your maid and your mammy. You will see. As soon as you are off and mar
ried, she is going to leave you,” Caroline told her bluntly.

“You should hear yourself!”
Annabella wailed with her arms in the air as she walked away from her friend. “When I’m off and married,” Annabella mumbled to herself.

“You’re right. Like you’
ll ever get married,” Caroline conceded.

Soon, the two bickering Belles were
in their hired car and off to the airport. Caroline’s incessant complaining about the driver was drowned out by the girlish giggling about whom Caroline was or was
not
dating.

The two otherwise helpless young ladies arrived at Martha’s Vineyard without incident. As if they were unaccompanied minors, Hattie had arranged for assistance for the ladies at every leg of the journey and they were never without a guide, a helper,
or liaison. Annabella had been to the family’s seasonal home many times as a child, but over the years she saw her friends return with husbands and children. She could no longer bear to put herself through the embarrassment of showing up with her parents and no man. She had only agreed to go on this trip because Caroline was coming and, in Annabella’s mind, was just as pathetic as she was. Caroline was quite delusional, the way Annabella saw things. She had no more hope of landing a fine husband than Annabella. After all, Caroline was used up and no man in his right mind would marry such a woman. She was known about town and in the elite circles as the girl who would do anything with anyone. Her poor father practically withdrew from his social circles because he was too ashamed to face people, knowing what was being said about his daughter. He even sent her away to school in France, hoping she would come back a proper lady. Instead, she returned even more liberated than when she left. Unlike Annabella, though, she was not obsessed with finding a husband and being the perfect wife. Caroline’s life was fine - by her account. She was beautiful and educated. As long as she had her daddy’s fortune at her disposal, she had everything she needed. Annabella was her only friend because she was the only unmarried woman left in their circle of friends. And no married woman in her right mind would dare have Caroline around with her loose morals just waiting to pounce on someone’s poor, unsuspecting husband. Annabella once tried to set up Caroline with her male counterpart, Warren. Annabella figured them both to equally licentious and that their respective past indiscretions would cancel each other out. However, Warrenton Bingham Boatwright would not hear of such a thing. He figured Caroline to be nothing more than uppity, nouveaux-riche trash who used her marginal good looks and lascivious lips to lure men into her lustful latches. Besides, Warren was a hunter. He was disinclined to chase anything that was not trying to get away. It was just as well. Caroline was not attracted to the self-absorbed, self-righteous, vainglorious dolt of a man. She figured him to be overcompensating for something, and she had no patience in attempting to find out what exactly it was that he was lacking.

As the
driver pulled up to the extravagant home, Caroline began to scope the scene. She could not imagine spending a week with the tense girl she had known practically her whole life without the distraction of a handsome stranger. She was looking for what would become her 7-day lover. Annabella knew that look and she smacked her friend square on the cheek.

“I will not hear of it, Caroline. You will keep your boney knees together on this trip. Do you hear?”
Annabella scolded her.

“
You don’t expect me to go a week without a man, do you?” Caroline asked desperately.

“I most certainly do! I will not be in the company of a
strumpet whilst I attempt to recover from my nervous breakdown,” Annabella needed her to know.

“Nervous breakdown? You ran over a woman because you found her with your boyfriend one too many times. You only came here to let the heat die down. I have a good mind to slap you back. It might do you some good
,” Caroline retorted. 

“Warrenton is not my boyfriend and I could care less about that dreadful
woman. Besides, she ran into me,” Annabella cleared things up.

“Yes. Well, while you pretend to not be interested in Warrenton Bingham Boatwright, I will be
checking out that dark-haired gentleman in the Dockers.”

“You mean Chadsworth Montgomery? I don’t
think he’s your type, Caroline,” Annabella warned.

“Why not? H
e’s handsome and obviously rich,” Caroline noticed.

“Let’s just say his hair is not the onl
y thing dark about him,” Annabella tried to be coy.

“Oh, my word!
It is getting harder to tell these days, Annabella. The Blacks are getting richer and lighter. Pretty soon, we will all be the same color and class,” Caroline exclaimed.

“Not necessarily. I know plenty of rich White folk with no class
at all. On the other hand, I know lots of poor Black folk with a ton of class,” Annabella retorted.

“You are undoubtedly referring to your precious mammy, Hattie.”

“Why do you despise her so much?” Annabella wanted to know.

“Because she thin
ks she’s better than White folk,” Caroline was convinced.

“What
on earth would make you say such a thing?” Annabella did not understand.

“Everyone knows it. She works for you all day, then goes home to her precious family. She
does not want to be around you. She does not care about you. She won’t even let her daughter go to our prestigious university.”

“What in heaven’s name are your ranting about? Dominique is going to a private college for the Blacks
,” Annabella explained.

“Exactly! The word
around town is that our university not only accepted her, but offered her a full scholarship. However, Hattie turned them down flat. She doesn’t want anything to do with White people except to get their money.”